To locate books and other materials in CCSF Libraries, select the "More Search Options" from CityCat available from the Library's Homepage. You will notice many ways to search, such as Title, Author, Subject, Subject Keyword, etc. Books in the library are organized by call number according to the Library of Congress classification system which groups items by subject. Examples of Library of Congress call numbers are appended to the reference books in the Using Reference Sources section below.

To begin research in this area, do a subject search on "Latin America" and browse through its various subdivisions such as:

You may also use related subject heading such as:
Latin American fiction
Latin American studies

If you have a particular country within Latin America that you are trying to research, you may start by doing a subject search on that country. Examples are:

Cuba
Cuba -- History
Peru
Peru -- Social conditions

Many subject headings pertaining to Latin America have a subject followed by the adjective assigned to the country. Examples are:

Art, Mexican
Popular music - Domincan Republic
Cooking -- Brazilian

For subjects pertaining to literature, headings are arranged by the adjective assigned to the country. Examples are:

Mexican literature
Chilean poetry
Salvadoran fiction
Argentine drama

E-books

In addition to traditional print books, CityCat, the Library's Online Public Access Catalog, also provides access to electronic books (eBooks). To access an eBook while on campus, click on the brief bibliographic record to access the full bibliographic record. From here, click on the hyperlink below "Link to an Electronic Resource". You will be redirected to another page where you may read the eBook by clicking on "View this eBook". To access this resource from off-campus, you will need the 14-digit barcode found on your CCSF photo ID.

Using Reference Sources

Reference books provide background information and overviews on a given topic. Some reference books pertaining to Latin America, arranged by the Library of Congress call number, include:

Use databases for specialized and the most up-to-date information, especially academic (scholarly) sources that are not available for free on the Web. See the Articles & Databases page for a full list of databases available.

Note: Most periodical databases are part of the private, passworded Web, so you will need to have a current CCSF Photo ID card with a barcode to access those to which CCSF subscribes.

Gale Powersearch
There are currently 14 databases within Powersearch available to the CCSF community. A listing of the databases may be accessed here.

For this group of databases, you will find articles with

a) a citation only
b) a citation with an abstract of the article
c) a citation with the full text of the article.

By default, the limit to full-text articles is selected. If you wish to maximize your search results to include articles for which there is only a citation or a citation with an accompanying abstract, you may uncheck this limit.

Zapatistas AND human rights
NAFTA AND economic reform
Chile AND civil rights
Venezuela AND oil production
Browse subjects mode
You may browse a major subject such as Mexico by typing "Mexico" in the Find Subject box provided and then either clicking on the "Search" button or hitting the "Enter" key on the keyboard. At the next screen, select the "+" sign next to View subdivisions. At the next screen, you may select the appropriate subdivision containing the cluster of citations you would like to look at.

EBSCOhost is an online reference system consisting of 22 databases which offer a variety of proprietary full-text periodical articles from leading publishers and information providers. A listing of the databases may be accessed by selecting "Choose databases" near the top of the screen.

By default, the limit to full-text articles is selected. If you wish to maximize your search results to include articles for which there is only a citation or a citation with an accompanying abstract, you may uncheck this limit.

Advanced search mode. This keyword search option allows you to specify words or terms in your search. Enter the words or phrases in the boxes provided.

Examples:

History AND church AND Mexico

Latin America AND neoliberalism

CQ Researcher
Provides full-text articles on topics ranging from social and teen issues to environment, health, education and science and technology.

In addition to databases supplied by the CCSF Library, you may access a rich variety of databases through the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). You will need an SFPL card with a valid barcode number for access. To obtain a free SFPL card, visit any branch of the SFPL, present a valid California ID and fill out an application. A library card will be issued on the spot.

Websites

Below are some examples of academic/scholarly websites pertaining to Latin America. If you use a search engine, such as Google, remember to evaluate the quality of the results.

Hi, I'm Joao Barretto, your subject librarian for the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Department. Feel free to contact me if you need research help, or if you have a resource you'd like to suggest for the library or this subject guide.